I have some experience of bike boxes... Firstly padded bags are no foil against luggage handling apes - you need a hard shell case. I have an Elite case - same company who do the Tacx bottles and Elite turbo trainers which is good but not perfect and is expensive. A friend has the unbranded one available from ProBikeKit which is cheap and good. Best of all is the Scicon one which is very expensive and the most bombproof and worth the money. I have had experience of bags and boxes failing at the the hands of the luggage apes - particularly UK budget airlines - and futile insurance claims - so do your homework before you travel , read the small print and get anything the airlines say in writing

you can always go to your LBS & get a cardboard box that a bike came in.....

i know it sounds a bit daft & doesnt look very good.... but millions of bikes are transported this way every year

True, but most of them are professionally packed at a factory and then stacked and tied onto pallets in groups of 12 or so - see what happens to the cardboard box when they start throwing around a single bike/box....

I'm moving from Sydney to London for a while next year, and if I was going to take my baby I would definitely go for a hard case.
(I plan to buy a cheapie over there, btw).

_________________You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer.
-- Frank Zappa

Really? I have transported bikes 8 times using this packaging method. Never any damage to them (or the boxes). Don't just chuck them in the box though. Use pipe lagging (from your local hardware store) to pad the frame. Also get a couple of the plastic braces (free, cos they'll throw em out) from your LBS. These fit between the drop outs. Lastly put a load of clothes in with the bike. You're a WW so the bagage handlers are used to much heavier bikes. Saves on excess baggage!

It isn't fool proof, but then if the bagage handlers want to break it, they will.

I've used cardboard boxes once myself and got away with it but that was in 2001, since then two friends used cardboard and both bikes needed new front wheels, Its a bit like the ad for Bell cycle helmets.... You spend $100's on their trainers but buttons on their helmets!!!

In 2004 I flew to the Canary Islands with 18 bikes (road and MTB) packed two by two in large Cannondale cardboard boxes. The individual bikes were broken down like when delivered from the factory, wrapped in bubblewrap and the boxes were stuffed with clothing, bottles and whatnot. None of the bikes were damaged.

I own two cases: One hard, one soft. The hard case is a Trico Iron case... I've had it for over 10 years. But this thing requires a lot of disassembly and its tight to disassemble/reassemble. I've also suffered damage when it was opened/inspected somewhere between Newark airport and Geneva. Very hard to get it packed correctly.

So, I don't reccomend that case, unless you are shipping a bike.

The second case is a BikeProUSA Race Case. The first time I saw one was back at the 99 USPRO on Philly when I met Salivatore Commesso, and the other Saeco riders at our hotel. I figured if the Euros use it to travel abroad without a spare bike... its gotta be decent. They had 5 or 6 of them in tow.

Anyway... whats great about it is:
• Stands up on wheels on its own
• It had super-thick 2-3" foam on all sides
• Ballistic nylon construction
• The frame clamps to a internal frame
• The case will hold one bike, plus two sets of wheels.
• They can be custom made for oversize bikes.

I've taken the thing to Europe 5 times since without a hitch. Plus, you can remove the internal frame with 4 bolts, and roll the thing up (I carry a bag of those blue Thule cinch straps - never now what you're gonna need to strap down to a rental car...) and strap it into a 4' x 1' roll. Two of them fit into a small trunk.

I always use a softcase everytime. Ive owned hard cases and they have came back with the wheels punched through and its cracked. I think they see the huge hard case and throw it around. Also it weighs a tone, so it adds up to excess bagages.

But my soft case has delivered my bike without any troubles at all, I think its easier for the guys to put it on the plane. I think the way its packed also helps. Plus I always take my LWs on the plane with me

Get a hard Case I have a soft and a hard and my last trip they would only add insurance on the hard case. If you do not get insurance on the bike it may only be covered for $2700 US or less in some cases.

decathalon soft bags are great. have been to oz via japan and europe a few time and (touch wood) havent had a hitch.
the only way to really have piece of mind is to pay for extra insurance, in the uk that was about £100 for two months abroad...but peanuts compared to a 3.5k bike.

I have two bikes. I bought the cheaper one just for stuff like this. The first time i traveled with it in a soft case they dented the frame. No big deal. I don't worry about the rain or if it gets stolen. Apes are apes. I don't really blame the people on the ground. They don't like awkward things.
If I traveled with my good bike i would get a hard case. Which one I don't know. I just don't do it.

this is why I vote for the BikeProUSA race case... Technically its a soft case... but really its not. There is no way your frame can get dented... unless you left something loose in the bag. Plus, it has lots of handles and wheels (rolls on its own) that make it easy to maneuver.

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